My Two Dads (not the 80’s sitcom)

When I was a young’n, I remember most of the old men in church didn’t pray to God but to Father Weejus instead. You’ve heard them… “Father Weejus love you and Father Weejus praise you and give you all the glory. Father Weejus ask that you…”

Yes, I know. Very old and very lame joke. But it provided a good segue to something that’s been on my mind a lot lately. God has many names and many functions in the lives of his believers. His most common name seems to be God the Father. In my own study and life experiences lately I have found myself focusing on this title in a very literal sense. I have been experiencing a God that has been more like a parent than a heavenly all-knowing being and I’m okay with this. It makes Him more accessible. To me anyway. I consider my relationship with my parents and family one of God’s greatest blessings in my life and I do not in any way take it for granted. Because I know it’s a horrible challenge for someone who has a negative relationship with their earthly father to develop a trust and acceptance of a heavenly one. This is something that particularly scares the bejeezus out of me when I consider I’ll probably be a dad someday. “Oh good,” I think to myself, “Here’s a person completely dependant on me for everything AND I have the opportunity to scar them for life religiously too. Okay, no pressure or anything.”

When considering God the Father, I think it’s best if we try to eliminate our biological parents from the equation entirely because a key element to believing as a Christian believes is to accept that God is perfect. Another element is to accept that we are not and cannot be because of our human nature. So it doesn’t make sense to compare your earthly parents to God because we know they are not perfect. It’s just not fair to them. But I believe God really is a perfect father and his love for us is the standard in which we should model our love for others and our behavior as parents (when the time comes). So if you believe the bible to be more than words, and God’s love more than simple affection but an example to follow then you can derive quite a bit about the nature of a good parent.